Method for modeling behavior and depression state

ABSTRACT

A method and system for modeling behavior and depression state of an individual, the method comprising: receiving a log of use dataset associated with communication behavior of the individual during a time period; receiving a supplementary dataset characterizing activity of the individual during the time period; receiving a survey dataset including responses, to at least one of a set of depression-assessment surveys, associated with a set of time points of the time period; generating a predictive analysis of a depression-risk state of the individual associated with at least a portion of the time period, from at least one of the log of use dataset, the supplementary dataset, and the survey dataset; and generating an alert upon detection that a set of parameters from the predictive analysis of the depression-risk state satisfy a threshold condition.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S.application Ser. No. 13/969,339 filed 16 Aug. 2013, which claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/683,867 filed on 16Aug. 2012 and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/683,869 filed on16 Aug. 2012, which are each incorporated in its entirety herein by thisreference.

This application also claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional ApplicationSer. No. 62/043,201 filed 28 Aug. 2014, U.S. Provisional ApplicationSer. No. 62/069,177 filed 27 Oct. 2014, U.S. Provisional ApplicationSer. No. 62/043,328 filed 28 Aug. 2014, and U.S. Provisional ApplicationSer. No. 62/043,566 filed 29 Oct. 2014, which are each incorporated inits entirety herein by this reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates generally to the field of mental health and morespecifically to a new and useful method for modeling behavior and statesof depression and/or anxiety in the field of mental health.

BACKGROUND

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is characterized by a combination ofsymptoms that interfere with a person's ability to work, sleep, study,eat, and enjoy once-pleasurable activities. Major depression istypically disabling and prevents a person from functioning normally.Some patients with MDD may experience only a single episode within theirlifetime, but more often, an individual/patient with MDD can havemultiple episodes. Two diagnostic criteria for MDD are depressed moodand loss of interest or pleasure in most activities, at least one ofwhich must occur for a duration of at least two weeks. Additionaldiagnostic symptoms, including dysphoric mood, appetite change, andthoughts of death are also common. Furthermore, depression is oftencomorbid with anxiety, which can also have a debilitating effect onindividuals.

Unfortunately, current standards of detection, diagnosis and treatmentof MDD, anxiety, and/or other depressive disorders, as well as socialbarriers to seeking diagnosis and treatment, are responsible for delaysin diagnoses of disorders and/or misdiagnoses of disorders, which causedisorders to remain untreated. Furthermore, changes in depressive stateoften go undetected, resulting in regressions in depressive state,patient harm, or even death. While the delays can be due to thesensitive nature of such disorders, current standards of detectiondiagnosis are severely deficient in many controllable aspects. Inaddition to these deficiencies, further limitations in detection,diagnosis, treatment, and/or monitoring of patient progress duringtreatment prevent adequate care of patients with diagnosable andtreatable depressive disorders.

As such, there is a need in the field of mental health for a new anduseful method for modeling behavior and states of depression and/oranxiety. This invention creates such a new and useful method formodeling behavior and states of depression and/or anxiety.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a method for modeling behaviorand depression state;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a variation of a portion of a method formodeling behavior and depression state;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a variation of a portion of a method formodeling behavior and depression state;

FIG. 4 depicts an example of a dashboard for providing an alert in anembodiment of a method for modeling behavior and depression state;

FIGS. 5A and 5B depict example notifications in an example of a methodfor modeling behavior and depression state; and

FIG. 6 depicts an embodiment of a system for modeling behavior anddepression state.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The following description of the embodiments of the invention is notintended to limit the invention to these embodiments, but rather toenable any person skilled in the art to make and use this invention.

1. Method

As shown in FIG. 1, a method 100 for modeling behavior and depressionstate of an individual includes: accessing a log of use of acommunication application executing on a mobile communication device ofthe individual within a time period S110; receiving a supplementarydataset characterizing activity of the individual in association withthe time period S120; receiving a survey dataset including responses, toat least one of a set of depression-assessment surveys, associated witha set of time points of the time period, from the individual S130; forat least a time point of the set of time points, transforming data fromthe log of use, the supplementary dataset, and the survey dataset intoan analysis of a depression-risk state of the individual associated withat least a portion of the time period S140; and generating an alertbased upon one or more outputs of the analysis S150. In some variations,the method 100 can further include any one or more of: providing anotification to the individual, at the mobile communication device, inresponse to the analysis S160; and automatically initiating provision ofa therapeutic intervention for the individual by way of at least one ofthe computing system and the mobile communication device S170.

The method 100 functions to analyze communication behavior and otherinformation regarding an individual (e.g., patient, at-risk individual)exhibiting symptoms of depression, in order to assess risk of theindividual in entering an adverse depressive state. As such, the method100 can facilitate monitoring of states of depression in an individualexhibiting symptoms of depression, by enabling detection of changes inthe individual's condition. In a specific application, the method 100can monitor and analyze communication behavior, mobility behavior,and/or other behavior detected from any other suitable sensor(s)associated with an individual with depression over time, and provide analert to a caretaker associated with the patient and/or to the patientupon detection that the individual has entered or is at risk of enteringa critical state of depression (e.g., suicidal state). Thus, the method100 can provide a predictive model for one or more individualsexperiencing symptoms of MDD or other depressive disorders (e.g.,perinatal depression, comorbid depression), as well as an interventionmodel for providing interventions at key time points, to optimizeimprovement in individual outcomes (e.g., as exhibited by an improvedstate). The intervention model can thus implement an anticipated patientdepressive state to drive automated or manual targeted intervention fora patient (e.g., via a phone call, email, health tip notification,insight, other electronic communication, other electronic device-basedmessaging, other electronic device-based notifications, etc.) in someapplications. In further embodiments, an analysis of the method 100 canbe used to generate and/or provide therapeutic regimens to the patientas a therapeutic measure in promoting the psychological health of apatient with clinically-diagnosed depression.

In relation to perinatal depression, applications of the method 100 canprovide therapeutic intervention to women experiencing depression duringpregnancy (e.g., women in their third trimester of pregnancy) inrelation to one or more of: depression, mood, pain, anxiety related topregnancy, general anxiety, and any other adverse mental state adversestate associated with pregnancy. As such, in relation to perinataldepression, the method 100 can improve patient outcomes in terms ofpatient function, patient quality of life, and overall childdevelopment. In relation to depression and poor self-managementassociated with diabetes, applications of the method 100 can detecttrends toward adverse health states and provide therapeutic interventionto patients with type II diabetes. Variations of the method 100 can,however, be applied to improve patient outcomes in relation to any otherstate or condition associated with depression.

In relation to anxiety, which can be comorbid with depression,applications of the method 100 can adapted to provide therapeuticintervention for individuals experiencing any suitable form of anxietyin the form of one or more of: generalized anxiety disorder (GAD),obsessive-compulsive disorder; panic disorder, post-traumatic stressdisorder (PTSD), social anxiety disorder, phobias, and any other form ormanifestation of anxiety. As such, in relation to anxiety, the method100 can improve patient outcomes in terms of patient function andpatient quality of life, in cooperation with or entirely independent ofdetection and treatment of depression in the individual (e.g., forindividuals with one or both of depression and anxiety). Variations ofthe method 100 can, however, be applied to improve patient outcomes inrelation to any other state or condition associated with depression,anxiety, or both depression and anxiety.

While the method 100 can be implemented for a single individualexhibiting symptoms of depression, the method 100 can additionally oralternatively be implemented for a population of individuals (e.g.,including the individual, excluding the individual), wherein thepopulation of individuals can include individuals similar to and/ordissimilar to the individual (e.g., in exhibition of symptoms ofdepression, in demographic group, in medical condition, etc.). Thus,information derived from the population of individuals can be used toprovide additional insight into connections between the individual'sbehavior and risk of entering one of a spectrum of depressive states,due to aggregation of data from a population. In a specific example, themethod 100 involves a population of patients between 18 and 65 years ofage, each patient having a mobile communication device (e.g., smartphone, tablet, wearable computing device, etc.) and suffering fromdepression (e.g., as assessed from a score of 10 or greater on a PHQ-9derived scale, as assessed from a score of 14 or greater on the HAM-Dscale). In the specific example, the population of patients omitspatients suffering from visual or hearing impairment, suicidal patients,pregnant women, new mothers (e.g., mothers who have given birth withinthe previous four months), and patients who have suffered a recenttragic event. However, variations of the specific example canalternatively include patients of any other suitable demographic orcondition. For instance, pregnant women or new mothers can be includedin variations of the method adapted for perinatal depression modeling,and patients suffering from other ailments can be included in variationsof the method adapted for comorbid depression modeling.

The method 100 is preferably implemented at least in part by anembodiment of the system 200 described in Section 2 below, variations ofwhich can be implemented at least in part by embodiments, variations,and examples of the system described in U.S. application Ser. No.13/969,339 entitled “Method for Modeling Behavior and Health Changes”and filed on 16 Aug. 2013; however, the method 100 can alternatively beimplemented using any other suitable system configured to processcommunication and/or other behavior of the patient, in aggregation withother information, in order to generate a model of behavior anddepression state in the patient.

1.1 Method—Passive Data

Block S110 recites: accessing a log of use of a communicationapplication (e.g., native communication application) executing on amobile communication device by the patient within a time period, whichfunctions to unobtrusively collect and/or retrieve communication-relateddata from a patient's mobile communication device. Preferably, BlockS110 is implemented using a module of a processing subsystem configuredto interface with a native data collection application executing on amobile communication device (e.g., smartphone, tablet, personal dataassistant (PDA), personal music player, vehicle, head-mounted wearablecomputing device, wrist-mounted wearable computing device, etc.) of thepatient, in order to retrieve patient communication data. As such, inone variation, a native data collection application can be installed onthe mobile communication device of the patient, can executesubstantially continuously while the mobile communication device is inan active state (e.g., in use, in an on-state, in a sleep state, etc.),and can record communication parameters (e.g., communication times,durations, contact entities) of each inbound and/or outboundcommunication from the mobile communication device. In implementingBlock S110, the mobile communication device can then upload this data toa database (e.g., remote server, cloud computing system, storagemodule), at a desired frequency (e.g., in near real-time, every hour, atthe end of each day, etc.) to be accessed by the processing subsystem.In one example of Block S110, the native data collection application canlaunch on the patient's mobile communication device as a backgroundprocess that gathers patient data once the patient logs into an account,wherein the patient data includes how and with what frequency thepatient interacts with and communicates with other individuals throughphone calls, e-mail, instant messaging, an online social network, etc.

As such, in accessing the log of use of the native communicationapplication, Block S110, preferably enables collection of one or moreof: phone call-related data (e.g., number of sent and/or received calls,call duration, call start and/or end time, location of patient before,during, and/or after a call, and number of and time points of missed orignored calls); text messaging (e.g., SMS test messaging) data (e.g.,number of messages sent and/or received, message length associated witha contact of the individual, message entry speed, delay between messagecompletion time point and sending time point, message efficiency,message accuracy, time of sent and/or received messages, location of thepatient when receiving and/or sending a message); data on textualmessages sent through other communication venues (e.g., public and/orprivate textual messages sent to contacts of the patient through anonline social networking system, reviews of products, services, orbusinesses through an online ranking and/or review service, statusupdates, “likes” of content provided through an online social networkingsystem), vocal and textual content (e.g., text and/or voice data thatcan be used to derive features indicative of negative or positivesentiments) and any other suitable type of data.

In relation to accessing the log of communication, Block S110 caninclude accessing the log of use at the mobile communication device ofthe individual, and transmitting, from the mobile communication deviceto a computing system, a log of use dataset associated withcommunication behavior of the individual S112, as shown in FIG. 2. Thecomputing system can be implemented in one or more of a processingmodule of the mobile communication device, a personal computer, a remoteserver, a cloud-based computing system, a computing module of any othersuitable computing device (e.g., mobile computing device, wearablecomputing device, etc.), and any other suitable computing module. Intransmitting the log of use dataset, a communication module (e.g., ahardware communication module associated with the communicationapplication) can transmit data to the computing system by way of a wiredand/or wireless data link (e.g., over Bluetooth, over Bluetooth LTE,etc.). However, Block S110 can include another other suitable variationof accessing the log of communication, transmitting data from the log ofcommunication, and/or receiving a log of use dataset.

Block S120 recites: receiving a supplementary dataset characterizingactivity of the individual in association with the time period, whichfunctions to unobtrusively receive non-communication-related data from apatient's mobile communication device and/or other device configured toreceive contextual data from the patient. Block S120 can includereceiving non-communication-related data pertaining to the individualbefore, during, and/or after (or in the absence of) communication withanother individual (e.g., a phone call) and/or computer network (e.g., asocial networking application), as described above in relation to BlockS110. Block S120 can include receiving one or more of: locationinformation, movement information (e.g., related to physical isolation,related to lethargy), device usage information (e.g., screen usageinformation related to disturbed sleep, restlessness, and/or interest inmobile device activities), and any other suitable information. Invariations, Block S120 0 can include receiving location information ofthe individual by way of one or more of: receiving a GPS location of theindividual (e.g., from a GPS sensor within the mobile communicationdevice of the individual), estimating the location of the individualthrough triangulation of local cellular towers in communication with themobile communication device, identifying a geo-located local Wi-Fihotspot during a phone call, and in any other suitable manner. Inapplications, data received in Block S110 and S120 can be processed totrack behavior characteristics of the individual, such as mobility,periods of isolation, quality of life (e.g., work-life balance based ontime spent at specific locations), and any other location-derivedbehavior information.

As such, data from Blocks S110 and S120 can be merged in subsequentblocks of the method 100 to track the individual's mobility during acommunication, for instance, in the analysis of Block S140. Invariations, Block S120 can additionally or alternatively includereceiving mobile usage data, including data indicative of screen unlocksand mobile application usage (e.g., by retrieving usage information frommobile operating system logs, by retrieving usage information from atask manager on a mobile communication device, etc.). Blocks S120 and/orS110 can therefore facilitate tracking of variations and periods ofactivity/inactivity for a patient through automatically collected data(e.g., from the patient's mobile communication device), in order toenable identification of periods of activity and inactivity by theindividual (e.g., extended periods when the individual was hyperactiveon the device or not asleep).

In additional variations, Block S120 can additionally or alternativelyinclude receiving one or more of: physical activity- or physicalaction-related data (e.g., accelerometer data, gyroscope data, data froman M7 or M8 chip) of the individual, local environmental data (e.g.,climate data, temperature data, light parameter data, etc.), nutritionor diet-related data (e.g., data from food establishment check-ins, datafrom spectrophotometric analysis, etc.) of the individual, biometricdata (e.g., data recorded through sensors within the individual's mobilecommunication device, data recorded through a wearable or otherperipheral device in communication with the individual's mobilecommunication device) of the individual, and any other suitable data. Inexamples, one or more of: a wireless-enabled scale, a blood pressuresensor, and a pulse-oximeter sensor can transmit the individual'sweight, blood pressure, and blood oxygen level to a mobile communicationdevice of the individual and/or a processing subsystem implementingportions of the method 100, and Block S120 can include receiving thisdata to further augment analyses performed in Block S140.

In relation to receiving data, Blocks S120 and/or S110 can additionallyor alternatively include receiving data pertaining to individuals incontact with the individual during the period of time, such that datafrom the individual who experiences states of depression and data fromothers in communication with the individual are received (e.g., usinginformation from an analogous application executing on the electronicdevice(s) of others in communication with the individual). As such,Blocks S120 and/or S110 can provide a holistic view that aggregatescommunication behavior data and contextual data of two sides of acommunication involving the individual who experiences states ofdepression. In examples, such data can include one or more of: a secondparty's location during a phone call with the individual, the secondparty's phone number, the second party's length of acquaintance with theindividual, and the second party's relationship to the individual (e.g.,top contact, spouse, family member, friend, coworker, businessassociate, etc.).

Similar to Block S110, In relation to receiving the supplementarydataset, Block S120 can include transmitting the supplementary datasetfrom the mobile communication device S122 and/or any other suitabledevice or system that serves as a source of supplementary data, to thecomputing system, as shown in FIG. 2. In transmitting the supplementarydataset, one or more sensor modules (e.g., sensor module of the mobilecommunication device, sensor module of a wearable computing device,sensor of a biometric monitoring device, etc.) can transmit data to thecomputing system by way of a wired and/or wireless data link (e.g., overBluetooth, over Bluetooth LTE, etc.). However, Block S120 can includeanother other suitable variation of transmitting supplementary data,and/or receiving supplementary data.

1.2 Method—Active Data

Block S130 recites: receiving a survey dataset including responses, toat least one of a set of depression-assessment surveys, associated witha set of time points of the time period, from the individual. Block S130is preferably implemented at a module of the computing system describedin relation to Blocks S110 and S120 above, but can additionally oralternatively be implemented at any other suitable system configured toreceive survey data from one or more individuals. The survey dataset caninclude interview and/or self-reported information from the individual.Furthermore, the survey dataset preferably includes quantitative data,but can additionally or alternatively include qualitative datapertaining to a depressive state of the individual corresponding to atleast a subset of the set of time points. Furthermore, while portions ofthe survey dataset preferably correspond to time points within the timeperiod of Block S110, portions of the survey dataset can alternativelycorrespond to time points outside of the time period of Block S110(e.g., as in a pre-screening or a post-screening survey). Additionallyor alternatively, Block S130 can include receiving clinical data (e.g.,information gathered in a clinic or laboratory setting by a clinician).

In Block S130, the set of time points can include uniformly ornon-uniformly-spaced time points, and can be constrained within orextend beyond the time period of the log of use of the communicationapplication of Block S110. As such, in variations, the set of timepoints can include regularly-spaced time points (e.g., time pointsspaced apart by an hour, by a day, by a week, by a month, etc.) with asuitable resolution for enabling detection of changes in a depressivestate of the individual. Additionally or alternatively, provision of asurvey and/or reception of responses to a survey can be triggered upondetection of an event of the individual (e.g., based upon data fromsensors associated with the individual, based upon an output of ananalysis of Block S140, etc.) or any other suitable change in state ofthe individual. Furthermore, for all time points of the set of timepoints, an identical subset of the set of depression-assessment surveyscan be provided to the individual; however, in alternative variations,different subsets of the set of depression-assessment surveys can beprovided to the individual at different time points of the set of timepoints.

In variations, the survey dataset can include responses to surveysconfigured to assess severity of depression in an individual along aspectrum, wherein the surveys transform qualitative informationcapturing an individual's affective state into quantitative dataaccording to a response-scoring algorithm. In examples, the set ofdepression-assessment surveys can include surveys derived from one ormore of: the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D), with scoresscaling from 0 (least severe) to 58 (most severe); the Patient HealthQuestionnaire (PHQ-9, PHQ-2) for screening, monitoring, and measuringdepression severity according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)criteria for depression, with scores scaling from 0 (least severe) to 27(most severe); the World Health Organization (WHO-5) quality of lifeassessment, with scores scaling from 0 (most severe) to 25 (leastsevere); the Patient Activation Measure (PAM) self-management assessmentwith levels scaling from 1 (most severe) to 4 (least severe); ademographic survey that receives demographic information of the patient;a medication adherence survey (for patients taking medication fordepression); a mood/depression survey; and a recent care survey (e.g.,covering questions regarding hospitalization and psychological care).However, the set of surveys can include any other suitable surveys(e.g., BDI, HDI, CES-D, PHQ-8, etc.) or adaptations thereof. As such,the survey dataset can include quantitative scores of the individual forone or more subsets of surveys for each of the set of time points (or asubset of the set of time points).

In relation to anxiety, which may or may not be comorbid with depressionin the individual, the survey dataset can include responses to surveysconfigured to assess severity of anxiety in an individual along aspectrum, wherein the surveys transform qualitative informationcapturing an individual's state into quantitative data according to aresponse-scoring algorithm. In examples, surveys configured to assessstates of anxiety can include surveys derived from one or more of: ageneral anxiety disorder (GAD) scale (e.g., a GAD-7 scale); aquestionnaire for screening, monitoring, and measuring anxiety severityaccording to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) criteria foranxiety; a daily assessment of symptoms-anxiety (DAS-A) questionnaire; aquestionnaire for screening, monitoring, and measuring compulsivebehavior severity according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)criteria for compulsive behavior; a Yale-Brown Obsessive CompulsiveScale (Y-BOCS); a questionnaire for screening, monitoring, and measuringpanic attack severity according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual(DSM) criteria for anticipatory attacks (DSM-IV-TR); a questionnaire forscreening, monitoring, and measuring PTSD according to Diagnostic andStatistical Manual (DSM) criteria for PTSD; a Trauma ScreeningQuestionnaire; a PTSD symptom scale; a social phobia inventory; a SPAI-Btool; a Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale; a questionnaire for screening,monitoring, and measuring specific phobia severity according toDiagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) criteria for specific phobias(DSM-IV-TR); and any other suitable tool or survey.

In an example, the survey dataset comprises biweekly responses (e.g.,for a period of 6 months) to the PHQ-9 survey, biweekly responses (e.g.,for a period of 6 months) to the WHO-5 survey in alternation with thePHQ-9 survey, responses to the PAM assessment at an initial time point,at an intermediate time point (e.g., 1-month time point), and at atermination time point, responses to the HAM-D assessment at an initialtime point and a termination time point, biweekly response to a recentcare survey, daily responses to a mood survey, and twice-per-weekresponses to a medication adherence survey.

In some variations, Block S130 can further include facilitatingautomatic provision of at least one of the set of depression-assessmentsurveys at the mobile communication device(s) of the individual(s). Assuch, responses to one or more of the set of depression-assessmentsurveys can be provided by user input at an electronic device (e.g., amobile communication device of the patient), or automatically detectedfrom user activity (e.g., using suitable sensors). Additionally oralternatively, provision of at least one of the set ofdepression-assessment surveys can be performed manually by an entity(e.g., therapy providing entity, healthcare professional, relative,acquaintance, etc.) associated with an individual or received as derivedfrom clinical data, with data generated from the survey(s) received inBlock S130 by manual input. Additionally or alternatively, provision ofat least one survey and/or reception of responses to the survey can beguided by way of an application executing at a device (e.g., mobiledevice, tablet) of a caretaker of the individual and/or the patient,wherein the application provides instruction (e.g., in an audio format,in a graphic format, in a text-based format, etc.) for providing thesurvey or the responses to the survey. Block S130 can, however, beimplemented in any other suitable manner (e.g., by verbal communicationover the phone, by verbal communication face-to-face, etc.).

Similar to Block S110, In relation to receiving the survey dataset,Block S130 can include transmitting the survey dataset from the mobilecommunication device S132 and/or any other suitable device or systemthat serves as a source of survey data, to the computing system, asshown in FIG. 2. In transmitting the survey dataset, one or more datastorage modules (e.g., memory module of the mobile communication device,etc.) can transmit data to the computing system by way of a wired and/orwireless data link (e.g., over Bluetooth, over Bluetooth LTE, etc.).However, Block S130 can include another other suitable variation oftransmitting survey data, and/or receiving survey data.

Blocks S110, S120, and S130 can thus provide passive data (e.g.,unobtrusively collected data) and active data (e.g., survey data) thatcan be taken as inputs in Block S140 to generate analyses pertaining topresent, past, and/or future depressive states of a patient.

1.3 Method—Modeling and Predicting Depression State

Block S140 recites: for at least a time point of the set of time points,transforming data from the log of use, the supplementary dataset, andthe survey dataset into an analysis of a depression-risk state of theindividual associated with at least a portion of the time period. BlockS140 functions to determine values of one or more depression-riskparameters in association with at least one time point of the set oftime points, based upon one or more of the log of use dataset, thesupplementary dataset, and the survey dataset. Block S140 thus enablesassessment of a past or current depressive state of the individualand/or predicts risk that the individual will trend toward a different(e.g., worsened, improved, etc.) depressive state at a future timepoint.

In the analysis, Block S140 can identify parameters/triggering eventsdirectly from passive data (i.e., the log of use dataset, thesupplementary dataset) and/or from active data (i.e., the surveydataset), or can additionally or alternatively implement a predictivemodel that processes both passive and active components to predict oneor more present or future depressive states of the individual, withtraining data. Additionally or alternatively, for individuals followinga medication regimen for treatment or maintenance of health in relationto depression, the analyses of Block S140 can include generation of anadherence model that assesses or predicts adherence of the patient tothe medication regimen as an output of the analysis.

1.3.1 Depression-Risk State—Predictive Model

Preferably, generating a predictive model S142 in association with BlockS140 includes utilization of one or more machine learning techniques andtraining data (e.g., from the patient, from a population of patients),data mining, and/or statistical approaches to generate more accuratemodels pertaining to the patient's depression (e.g., over time, withaggregation of more data). As such, Block S142 is preferably implementedat a computing system configured to process data from the log of usedataset, the supplementary dataset, and the survey dataset. Thecomputing system can be the same computing system associated with one ormore of Blocks S110-S130 of the method 100, or can alternatively be anyother suitable computing system.

In generating the predictive model, Block S142 preferably uses inputdata including communication behavior data from the log of use dataset,data from supplementary dataset, and data from the survey dataset toprovide a set of feature vectors corresponding to time points of thetime period. Feature selection approaches can include one or more of:factor analysis approaches that implement statistical methods todescribe variability among observed features in terms of unobservedfactors, in order to determine which features explain a high percentageof variation in data; correlation feature selection (CFS) methods,consistency methods, relief methods, information gain methods,symmetrical uncertainty methods, and any other suitable methods offeature selection. In variations, feature selection approaches can beimplemented for any passive data (e.g., communication data, mobilitydata), wherein a linking analysis of Block S140 is then used todetermine associations between features of passive data and states ofdisorder determined from active data (e.g., survey response datasets).Analysis of the passive data in relation to the active data, with regardto feature selection and associations between passive and active datacan, however, be performed in any other suitable manner.

In one variation, the feature vectors can include features related toaggregate communication behavior, interaction diversity, mobilitybehavior (e.g., mobility radius as a measure of distance traveled by theindividual within a given time period, such as the weekend), a number ofmissed calls, and a duration of time spent in a certain location (e.g.,at home). In examples, feature vectors can be generated based uponaggregation of phone, text message, email, social networking, and/orother patient communication data for a particular period of time intoone or more features for the patient for the particular time period.Furthermore, a feature can be specific to a day, a week, a month, a dayperiod (e.g., morning, afternoon, evening, night), a time block during aday (e.g., one hour), a specific communication action (e.g., a singlephone call, a set of communication actions of the same type (e.g., a setof phone calls within a two-hour period), all communications within aperiod of time, etc.). Additionally, combinations of features can beused in a feature vector. For example, one feature can include aweighted composite of the frequency, duration (i.e., length), timing(i.e., start and/or termination), and contact diversity of all outgoingvoice (e.g., phone call) communications and a frequency, length, andtiming and/or response time to (i.e., time to accept) incoming voicecommunications within the first period of time through a phone callapplication executing on the patient's mobile computing device. Featurevectors can additionally or alternatively include features based onanalysis of voice communications, textual communications, mobileapplication activity usage, location data, and any other suitable datawhich can be based on variance, entropy, or other mathematical andprobabilistic computations of basic data (e.g., a composite activityscore, a composite socialization score, a work-life balance score, aquality-of-life score). However, the feature vectors can be determinedin any other suitable manner.

In some variations, Block S142 can include utilizing statistics-basedfeature selection approaches to determine a subset of features from thelog of use dataset, the supplementary dataset, and/or the survey datasetthat have a high predictive power and/or high accuracy in generating oneor more outputs of the predictive model. In examples, the statisticalapproaches can implement one or more of: correlation-based featureselection (CFS), minimum redundancy maximum relevance (mRMR), Relief-F,symmetrical uncertainty, information gain, decision tree analysis(alternating decision tree analysis, best-first decision tree analysis,decision stump tree analysis, functional tree analysis, C4.5 decisiontree analysis, repeated incremental pruning analysis, logisticalternating decision tree analysis, logistic model tree analysis,nearest neighbor generalized exemplar analysis, association analysis,divide-and-conquer analysis, random tree analysis, decision-regressiontree analysis with reduced error pruning, ripple down rule analysis,classification and regression tree analysis) to reduce questions fromprovided surveys to a subset of effective questions, and otherstatistical methods and statistic fitting techniques to select a subsetof features having high efficacy from the data collected in Blocks S110,S120, and/or S130. Additionally or alternatively, any assessment ofredundancy or efficacy in a feature derived from data of Blocks S110,S120, and/or S130 can be used to provide a measure of confidence in anoutput of the predictive model from one or more input features.Furthermore, the statistical approach(es) of Block S142 can be used tostrategically reduce portions of data collected based upon redundancyand/or lack of utility of the data. Even further, the statisticalapproaches/feature selection approaches can be used to entirely omitcollection of portions of the data (e.g., responses to specific surveysor portions of surveys can render responses to other portions of surveysor other surveys redundant), in order to streamline the data collectionin Blocks S110, S120, and/or S130.

In one example, a high degree of correlation (e.g., positivecorrelation) between responses to a bi-weekly PHQ-9 assessment and adaily mood survey (e.g., a portion of recent responses to a daily moodsurvey in relation to a time point of interest, responses to the dailymood survey from 7 days before and 7 days after a session of responsesto a PHQ-9 assessment) can be used to entirely omit provision of thebi-weekly PHQ-9 assessment or portions of the PHQ-9 assessment, in lieuof the daily mood survey, due to redundancy in data collection, invariations of the method 100. In another example, a high degree ofcorrelation (e.g., positive correlation) between responses to abi-weekly PHQ-9 assessment and mobility data from the supplementarydataset can be used to entirely omit provision of the bi-weekly PHQ-9assessment or portions of the PHQ-9 assessment, in lieu of the mobilitydata, due to redundancy in data collection, in variations of the method100. In still another example, a high degree of correlation (e.g.,positive correlation) between a communication parameter derived from thelog of use (e.g., call count predictability) and mobility data from thesupplementary dataset can be used to entirely omit collection of data(e.g., call count data, mobility data) due to redundancy in datacollection, in variations of the method 100. In still another example, ahigh degree of correlation (e.g., positive correlation) between acommunication parameter derived from the log of use (e.g.,predictability and entropy) and mobility data from the supplementarydataset can be used to entirely omit collection of data (e.g., callcount data, mobility data) due to redundancy in data collection, invariations of the method 100.

In still other examples, correlations between active data and passivedata including one or more of: positive correlations between daily moodsurvey score and call count/SMS count during peak hours, positivecorrelations between daily mood survey score and communicationdiversity, negative correlations between daily mood survey score andincoming call count during off-peak hours, negative correlations betweendaily mood survey score and SMS message length to a primary contactduring peak hours, negative correlations between daily mood survey scoreand number of unreturned calls during off-peak hours, positivecorrelations between PHQ-9 assessment score and mobility, positivecorrelations between PHQ-9 assessment score and mobility radius, andnegative correlations between PHQ-9 assessment score and call countpredictability can be used to streamline data collection associated withBlocks S110, S120, and/or S130. However, any other suitable data derivedfrom Blocks S110, S120, and S130 can be used to increase efficacy ofdata collection and/or determination of values of the depression-riskparameter in Block S142. Additionally or alternatively, any assessmentof redundancy or efficacy in a feature derived from data of Blocks S110,S120, and/or S130 can be used to provide a measure of confidence inoutputs of the predictive model determined from the feature(s).

In some embodiments, the predictive model generated in Block S142 canprocess a set of feature vectors according to methods described inrelation to the predictive modeling engine described in U.S. applicationSer. No. 13/969,339, entitled “Method for Modeling Behavior and HealthChanges” and filed on 16 Aug. 2014, which is incorporated herein in itsentirety by this reference; however, the predictive model canalternatively be generated in any other suitable manner. As such, invariations of the model(s), a set of feature vectors from the input datacan be processed according to a machine learning technique (e.g.,support vector machine with a training dataset) to generate the value(s)of the criticality parameter in association with a time point. In oneexample, the predictive model can incorporate historical data from thepatient (e.g., survey responses from a prior week, a history of passivedata from the log of use, etc.), with more weight placed upon morerecent data from Blocks S110-S130 in determination of a depression-riskstate associated with a time point by the predictive model; however, thepredictive model can be implemented in any other suitable manner.

Furthermore, in extensions of the method 100 to a population ofpatients, the predictive model can be used to identify differences inpassive data and/or active data, as associated with identifieddepression-risk states, between different demographics of individuals.For instance, the predictive model can be used to identify sets offeature vectors and/or subsets of features (e.g., related tocommunication behavior, related to survey responses, related to mobilitybehavior, etc.) that have high efficacy in determining risk/severity forone or more of: different genders, different age groups, differentemployment statuses, different ethnicities, different nationalities,different socioeconomic classes, and any other suitable demographicdifference.

While some variations of machine learning techniques are describedabove, in relation to generation of the predictive model, Block S140 canadditionally or alternatively utilize any other suitable machinelearning algorithms. In variations, the machine learning algorithm(s)can be characterized by a learning style including any one or more of:supervised learning (e.g., using logistic regression, using backpropagation neural networks), unsupervised learning (e.g., using anApriori algorithm, using K-means clustering), semi-supervised learning,reinforcement learning (e.g., using a Q-learning algorithm, usingtemporal difference learning), and any other suitable learning style.Furthermore, the machine learning algorithm can implement any one ormore of: a regression algorithm (e.g., ordinary least squares, logisticregression, stepwise regression, multivariate adaptive regressionsplines, locally estimated scatterplot smoothing, etc.), aninstance-based method (e.g., k-nearest neighbor, learning vectorquantization, self-organizing map, etc.), a regularization method (e.g.,ridge regression, least absolute shrinkage and selection operator,elastic net, etc.), a decision tree learning method (e.g.,classification and regression tree, iterative dichotomiser 3, C4.5,chi-squared automatic interaction detection, decision stump, randomforest, multivariate adaptive regression splines, gradient boostingmachines, etc.), a Bayesian method (e.g., naïve Bayes, averagedone-dependence estimators, Bayesian belief network, etc.), a kernelmethod (e.g., a support vector machine, a radial basis function, alinear discriminate analysis, etc.), a clustering method (e.g., k-meansclustering, expectation maximization, etc.), an associated rule learningalgorithm (e.g., an Apriori algorithm, an Eclat algorithm, etc.), anartificial neural network model (e.g., a Perceptron method, aback-propagation method, a Hopfield network method, a self-organizingmap method, a learning vector quantization method, etc.), a deeplearning algorithm (e.g., a restricted Boltzmann machine, a deep beliefnetwork method, a convolution network method, a stacked auto-encodermethod, etc.), a dimensionality reduction method (e.g., principalcomponent analysis, partial lest squares regression, Sammon mapping,multidimensional scaling, projection pursuit, etc.), an ensemble method(e.g., boosting, boostrapped aggregation, AdaBoost, stackedgeneralization, gradient boosting machine method, random forest method,etc.), and any suitable form of machine learning algorithm.

1.3.2 Depression-Risk State—Adherence Model

For patients taking medication to manage their depression, Block S140can additionally or alternatively include processing datasets associatedwith Blocks S110, S120, and/or S130 with an adherence model S143configured to assess and/or predict a state of adherence to a medicationregimen by a patient. The adherence model can be an embodiment,variation, or example of an adherence model as described in U.S.application Ser. No. 13/969,339, entitled “Method for Modeling behaviorand Health Changes”, but can alternatively be any other suitableadherence model.

1.3.3 Depression-Risk State—Parameters of Analysis and CriticalityAssessment

In generating the analysis of a depression-risk state of the individual,Block S140 can include generating comparisons between differentthreshold conditions and one or more of: components of the log of usedataset, components of the supplementary dataset, components of thesurvey dataset and outputs of the predictive model. As such, generatingthe analysis of the depression-risk state of the individual in BlockS140 can include one or more of: generating a first comparison between afirst threshold condition and a passive data component derived from oneor more of the log of use dataset and the supplementary dataset S144;generating a second comparison between a second threshold condition andan active data component derived from the survey dataset S146; andgenerating a third comparison between a third threshold condition and anoutput of the predictive model S148, as shown in FIG. 3. The comparisonsof Blocks S144, S146, and/or S148 can thus be associated with parametersof the depression-risk state of the individual used to assesscriticality of the depression state of the individual, and/or to resolvea critical depression state of the individual in subsequent blocks ofthe method 100.

Blocks S144, S146, and S148 thus function to process the outputs ofBlocks S110-S130 of the method 100, such that the resolution actions ofBlock S150 are derived from at least one of an active component (i.e., acomponent derived from the survey response dataset), a passive component(e.g., a clinically-informed behavioral rule component determined byheuristics), and a component derived from the predictive model generatedin Block S142. In particular, consideration of the active component, thepassive component, and the component derived from the predictive modelcan significantly strengthen the efficacy of the resolution actionsimplemented in Block S150, as shown in FIG. 4. Furthermore, each of theactive component, the passive component, and the predictive modelcomponent can have an associated time frame that is identical ordifferent to time frames of analysis of the other components.Additionally, analysis of each of the active component, the passivecomponent, and the predictive model component can occur within one ormore time frames that are different from the time frame of an associatedresolution action.

Block S144 recites: generating a first comparison between a firstthreshold condition and a passive data component derived from one ormore of the log of use dataset and the supplementary dataset. In BlockS144, generating the first threshold condition and a passive dataelement can comprise defining one or more categories of passivebehaviors of the individual (e.g., related to lethargy, related tosocial isolation, related to physical isolation, related to evolution ofthe patient's support network, related to time spent at work, related toweekly behavioral patterns, etc.) based upon historical behavior of apatient within a duration of time (e.g., immediately prior 4-6 weeks ofthe individual's life). Then, Block S144 can include comparing thefeatures of or evolution in the passive behavior(s) of the individual tothe first threshold condition. In variations wherein the passivebehaviors of the patient are monitored for a duration of time, the firstthreshold condition can additionally or alternatively include afrequency threshold and/or a frequency-within-a-duration-of-timethreshold, in relation to generation of an indication based upon apassive data component.

In variations, the first threshold condition can include one or more of:a threshold condition of a mobility less than the 20^(th) percentile ofvalues of a mobility-related parameter (e.g., mobility radius) for thetime period (e.g., a time window of 60 days, including 30 values of themobility-related parameter); a threshold condition of a mobility lessthan the 25^(th) percentile of values of a mobility-related parameter(e.g., mobility radius) for the time period (e.g., a time window of 60days, including 30 values of the mobility-related parameter); athreshold condition of a set of values of a mobility-related parameterhaving low values for a number of consecutive days; a thresholdcondition of a number of unreturned calls greater than 5 for a number ofconsecutive days; a threshold condition of a number of unreturned callsgreater than 3 for a number of consecutive days; a threshold conditionof a duration of time spent at home having a value greater than 22 hoursper day for a number of consecutive days; a threshold condition of aduration of time spent at home having a value greater than 22 hours perday for a number of consecutive days; a threshold condition ofcommunication behavior greater than the top 15^(th) percentile of valuesof communication-related parameter (e.g., communication count) for anumber of consecutive days within a time period (e.g., a time window of60 days, including 30 values of the communication-related parameter); athreshold condition of communication behavior less than the bottom30^(th) percentile of values of communication-related parameter (e.g.,communication diversity) for a number of consecutive days within a timeperiod (e.g., a time window of 60 days, including 30 values of thecommunication-related parameter); any other suitable thresholdcondition; and any other suitable combination of threshold conditions.

In examples, the first comparison can thus facilitate identification ofone or more of: a period of lethargy exhibited as a persistent reductionin mobility (e.g., little motion over a period of 3 consecutive days); aperiod of social isolation exhibited as persistence in unreturnedcommunications (e.g., a period of 3 days of unreturned phone calls, aperiod of 3 days of unreturned text-based communications, etc.); aperiod of physical isolation exhibited as persistence in staying in alocation (e.g., staying primarily at the same location for a period of 3or more days); a reduction in the individual's support network exhibitedas communicating with fewer people than typical for the patient; acombination of multiple passive behaviors that satisfy a thresholdcondition (e.g., two passive behaviors that meet a threshold within 3days); and any other suitable condition for indication generation.

Block S146 recites: generating a second comparison between a secondthreshold condition and an active data component derived from the surveydataset. In Block S146, generating the second comparison between thesecond threshold condition and the active component derived from thesurvey response dataset can comprise assigning a score to one or moreelements of the survey response dataset for a patient (e.g., based uponone instance of survey response provision, based upon multiple instancesof survey response provision), and comparing the score(s) to the secondthreshold condition. In variations wherein the survey response datasetcomprises responses to survey questions (e.g., a repeat set of surveyquestions) at each of a set of time points, the second thresholdcondition can additionally or alternatively include a frequencythreshold and/or a frequency-within-a-duration-of-time threshold, inrelation to generation of an indication based upon an active component.Furthermore, threshold conditions can be defined in relation to abaseline for each patient, based upon historical behavior of theindividual.

As such, in variations, the second comparison can indicate one or moreof: a score greater than a given threshold; a score greater than a giventhreshold for a certain duration of time; a change in score greater thana given threshold; a change in score greater than a given threshold asderived from the patient's historical score data; and any other suitablecomparison. Furthermore, the comparison(s) can additionally oralternatively be generated based upon a percentile condition, a standarddeviation (e.g., in score) condition, outlier detection analysis (e.g.,of a score in relation to scores from the individual), and/or any othersuitable condition, based upon analysis of a patient in isolation, basedupon analysis of the individual's recent behavior in isolation, basedupon analysis of a population of individuals, and/or any other suitablegrouping of individuals.

In examples, the second comparison can facilitate identification of oneor more of: a score for survey responses that surpasses a criticalthreshold score (e.g., a score above a critical value on a PHQ-9survey); a change in survey score that surpasses a critical threshold; aset of scores for survey responses acquired at each of a set of timepoints within a duration of time, wherein a threshold proportion of theset of scores surpasses a critical threshold score (e.g., 2 of 3 surveyshave scores above a critical threshold); a summation of scores for a setof scores for survey responses acquired at each of a set of time pointsthat surpasses a critical threshold; a magnitude of difference in scoresfor survey responses acquired at different time points that surpasses acritical threshold (e.g., a PHQ-9 score >15, which is greater than aprevious score); a combination of scores for different surveys thatsurpasses a critical threshold for each of the different surveys; andany other suitable condition for indication generation.

Block S148 recites: generating a third comparison between a thirdthreshold condition and an output of the predictive model. In BlockS150, generating the third comparison between the third thresholdcondition and the output of the predictive model can compriseidentification of a classification (e.g., a learned, complex,non-intuitive, and/or behavioral association exhibited by theindividual), and comparing the classification to a threshold condition.In variations, a single feature and/or combinations of features derivedfrom the log of use dataset, the supplementary dataset, and, the surveyresponse dataset (e.g., with weighting among factors) can be compared toone or more threshold conditions, in identifying if an alert based uponthe predictive model of Block S142 should be generated. In variationsand examples, the third comparison can be generated as described in U.S.application Ser. No. 13/969,339, entitled “Method for Modeling behaviorand Health Changes” and filed on 16 Aug. 2014.

As such, in one example of Blocks S144, S146, and S148, accounting for apassive component, an active component, and a predictive modelcomponent, an indication can be based upon: a first passive component(e.g., related to communication behavior) generated from a first 3-daywindow of time, a second passive behavioral component (e.g., related tomobility of the individual) generated from a second window of timeoverlapping with the first 3-day window of time, scoring of a biweeklysurvey, and a predictive model component for a time window of 14 days(e.g., overlapping with the period of the biweekly survey), wherein thepredictive model component implements an aggregated learning approachbased upon multiple individual models (e.g., each assessing differentparameters and/or different time periods of patient behavior).

The analyses of Block S140 can, however, include generation of any othersuitable comparison and/or any other suitable output which serve asparameters of the depression-risk state of the individual. Additionallyor alternatively, the comparison(s) generated in Blocks S144, S146, andS148 can include identification or analysis of patient progress througha condition (e.g., in relation to persistence of symptoms, in relationto worsening of symptoms, in relation to improvement of symptoms, etc.).

1.4 Method—Resolution of Critical States of Depression

Block S150 recites: generating an alert based upon one or more outputsof the analysis of Block S140, which functions to provide an indicationthat the individual is experiencing a critical state of depressionand/or is trending toward a critical state of depression. Block S150 canthus include generating an alert upon detection, at the computing systemperforming the analysis, that one or more outputs (e.g., comparisons)from the analysis of the depression-risk state satisfy associatedthreshold conditions. The alert of Block S150 can be an alert thatprompts transmission of a notification to an entity associated with theindividual, for instance, for therapeutic intervention. The alert canadditionally or alternatively comprise an alert that serves as an inputinto a subsequent computer-implemented module for automaticallyproviding an intervention to the individual, the intervention intendedto improve the depression-related state of the individual.

As such, Block S150 can include Block S152, which recites: transmittingan alert based upon the analysis. Block S152 functions to alert at leastone of an entity associated with the individual and/or the individualregarding a critical state of depression that the patient has or willenter. Thus, Block S152 can provide an alert to an entity at a criticaltime point at which the alert has an increased or optimal effectivenessin preventing a regression in depression-state of the patient. The alertcan be a visual alert (e.g., text-based alert, graphic alert), audioalert, haptic alert, and/or any other suitable type of alert. Inrelation to an entity associated with the patient(s), the entity caninclude any one or more of: a caretaker, a healthcare provider, arelative (e.g., parent, significant other, etc.), and any other suitableentity associated with the patient. Furthermore, in relation to anentity associated with the patient(s), the alert(s) can be provided at adashboard of an electronic interface (e.g., web portal, computingdevice, etc.) accessible by the entity. In the example shown in FIG. 4,alert(s) of Block S152 can be provided at a dashboard of a web portal,wherein the alert(s) are text-based alerts including a type of alert(e.g., related to active data, related to passive data), a value of adepression-risk parameter associated with the alert, and a graphic thatdisplays values of one or more scores of a survey (e.g., a daily moodsurvey) and/or a depression-risk parameter over time. In the example,the graphic can include tags that facilitate identification ofassociations between metrics derived from active components and passivecomponents (e.g., mobility parameter values in association with scoreson a PHQ-9 assessment and/or scores on a daily mood survey). Thedashboard can further provide an option to resolve the alert, wherein inexamples, resolution of the alert can include any one or more of:triaging an individual's depressive state, providing emotional supportto the individual to improve the patient's depressive state, assessingthe level of follow up care needed to improve the individual's state(e.g., by facilitating an appointment with a primary care physicianwithin 3 days, by alerting a friend of the patient, by facilitatingimmediate transfer of the individual to an emergency room, etc.), byproviding a short term plan to the patient to improve the patient'sdepressive state in an acute manner, by providing a long term plan tothe individual that is configured to maintain a healthy state of thepatient, and any other suitable resolving act (e.g., storinginformation/data resulting from a resolution action for futurereference).

In relation to the comparison(s) of Blocks S144, S146, and S148, thealert can comprise an alert associated with active data (e.g., alertsrelated to PHQ-9 scores, alerts related to PHQ-2 scores, alerts relatedto daily mood scores, alerts related to medication adherence, etc.).Additionally or alternatively, the alert can comprise an alertassociated with passive data (e.g., alerts related to lethargyassociated with a mobility parameter, alerts related to social isolationin association with unreturned calls, alerts related to physicalisolation in association with time spent at a location alone, alertsassociated with reaching out to a support network associated with numberof communication counts, alerts associated with reaching out to asupport network associated with communication diversity, etc.). However,in variations of the specific examples noted above, the alerts can beassociated with any other suitable form of active/passive data derivedfrom other blocks of the method 100. As such, the alert can comprise anyother suitable alert configured to facilitate improvement of thedepressive state of the patient.

In some variations, as shown in FIG. 1, the method 100 can furtherinclude Block S160, which recites: providing a notification to theindividual, at the mobile communication device, in response to theanalysis. Block S160 functions to provide information, advice, and/ormotivational content to the individual so that the patient can improvehis/her depressive state, and/or maintain a healthy state. In variationsof Block S160, the notifications can be provided with any suitableregular or non-regular frequency, can be provided with a sequence or ina random manner, can be triggered by an event, or can be provided in anyother suitable manner. Furthermore, the notifications can include one ormore of: a visual notification (e.g., text-based notification, graphicnotification), an audio notification, a haptic notification, and anyother suitable type of notification. In one example, a mobilecommunication device of a patient can download (e.g., upon initiation ofdownload by one or more of the individual and an entity associated withthe individual) and subsequently display the notification for thepatient at a display of the mobile communication device, as shown inFIGS. 5A and 5B. The notifications can be personalized to theindividual, or can be provided in the same manner to each of apopulation of individuals. In variations wherein the notifications arepersonalized to the individual, Block S160 can utilize a machinelearning technique to identify the types of notifications that thepatient responds positively to and/or negatively to, as assessed bypatient outcomes in relation to depressive state (e.g., indicated invalues of the depression-risk parameter).

In some variations, the notification can include one or more healthimproving tips and/or any other suitable therapeutic inventioncharacterized by a therapy orientation (e.g., motivational,psychoeducational, cognitive behavioral, biological, physical,mindfulness-related, relaxation-related, dialectical behavioral,acceptance-related, commitment-related, etc.) and a category (e.g., prosand cons of change, depression-course and resolution, behavioralactivation, insomnia, abdominal breathing, automatic thoughts,gratitude, mind wandering, cognitive distortions, exercise, rumination,facial feedback, diet, mindfulness, sleep inertia, compassion, socialsupport, scheduling regularity, savoring, distress tolerance, positiveevidence, rewards, sunlight exposure, muscle relaxation, assertiveness,supplements, avoidance, etc.) configured to address a variety of factorscontributing to depression. As such, the notification can provide adviceto combat depression and promote positive thinking based upon academic,clinical, and/or other forms of research. The notification canadditionally or alternatively be provided as described in U.S.application Ser. No. 13/969,339, entitled “Method for Modeling Behaviorand Health Changes”, and/or in any other suitable manner.

In some variations, as shown in FIG. 1, the method 100 can furtherinclude Block S170, which recites: automatically initiating provision ofa therapeutic intervention for the individual by way of at least one ofthe computing system and the mobile communication device. Block S170functions to automatically and actively promote improvements to theindividual's depressive state, and/or to facilitate maintenance of ahealthy state in the individual. In some variations, automaticallyinitiating provision of a therapeutic intervention can includegenerating a therapy regimen configured to improve the depressive stateof the patient, based upon the analysis of Block S140. In associatedvariations, the therapy regimen can include therapeutic measuresincluding any one or more of: psychiatric management measures (e.g.,education of the patient, education of acquaintances of the patient,forming alliances, providing support groups, etc.), pharmacotherapeuticmeasures (e.g., antidepressant medications), psychotherapeutic measures(e.g., cognitive behavioral therapy, interpersonal therapy, problemsolving therapy, psychodynamic psycotherapy), electroconvulsivetherapeutic measures, and any other suitable therapeutic measure.

Furthermore, the therapy regimen and/or other therapeutic interventionscan be provided using one or more of: healthcare provider interactions(e.g., therapeutic sessions with a counselor), pharmaceutical compounddistributors, mobile application implemented methods, webbrowser-facilitated methods, and any other suitable avenue of therapyprovision. The therapy regimen can additionally or alternatively beprovided in a manner similar to that described in U.S. application Ser.No. 13/969,339, entitled “Method for Modeling Behavior and HealthChanges”, with therapy/treatment efficacy analyzed by a treatmentregimen model and/or a treatment efficacy model. The therapy regimencan, however, be provided in any other suitable manner or assessed inany other suitable manner.

The method 100 can, however, include any other suitable blocks or stepsconfigured to model behavior and depressive state, and/or improve adepressive state of a patient. Furthermore, as a person skilled in theart will recognize from the previous detailed description and from thefigures and claims, modifications and changes can be made to the method100 without departing from the scope of the method 100.

2. System

As shown in FIG. 6, a system 200 for modeling behavior and depressionstate of a individual includes: a processing system 205 including: aninterface 207 with a communication data aggregation module executing ona mobile communication device 209 of the patient; a first module 210configured to access a log of use of a communication application coupledto the communication data aggregation module on the mobile communicationdevice by the individual within a time period; a second module 220configured to receive a supplementary dataset characterizing activity ofthe patient in association with the time period; a third module 230configured to receive a survey dataset including responses, to at leastone of a set of depression-assessment surveys, associated with a set oftime points of the time period, from the patient; a fourth module 240configured to transform data from the log of use, the survey dataset,and the supplementary dataset into an analysis of a depression-riskstate of the individual; and a fifth module 250 configured to generatean alert based upon one or more outputs of the analysis.

The system 200 functions to perform at least a portion of the method 100described in Section 1 above, but can additionally or alternatively beconfigured to perform any other suitable method for modeling behaviorand depression of a patient. The system 200 is preferably configured tofacilitate reception and processing of a combination of active data(e.g., survey responses) and passive data (e.g., unobtrusively collectedcommunication behavior data, mobility data, etc.), but can additionallyor alternatively be configured to receive and/or process any othersuitable type of data. As such, the processing system 205 can beimplemented on one or more computing systems including one or more of: acloud-based computing system (e.g., Amazon EC3), a mainframe computingsystem, a grid-computing system, and any other suitable computingsystem. Furthermore, reception of data by the processing system 205 canoccur over a wired connection and/or wirelessly (e.g., over theInternet, directly from a natively application executing on anelectronic device of the patient, indirectly from a remote databasereceiving data from a device of the patient, etc.).

The processing system 205 and data handling by the modules of theprocessing system 205 are preferably adherent to health-related privacylaws (e.g., HIPAA), and are preferably configured to privatize and/oranonymize patient data according to encryption protocols. In an example,when an individual installs and/or authorizes collection andtransmission of personal communication data by the system 200 throughthe native data collection application, the application can prompt theindividual to create a profile or account. In the example, the accountcan be stored locally on the individual's mobile communication device209 and/or remotely. Furthermore, data processed or produced by modulesof the system 200 can be configured to facilitate storage of datalocally (e.g., on the individual's mobile communication device, in aremote database), or in any other suitable manner. For example, privatehealth-related patient data can be stored temporarily on theindividual's mobile communication device in a locked and encrypted filefolder on integrated or removable memory. In this example, theindividual's data can be encrypted and uploaded to the remote databaseonce a secure Internet connection is established. However, data can bestored on any other local device or remote data in any other suitableway and transmitted between the two over any other connection via anyother suitable communication and/or encryption protocol. As such, themodules of the system 200 can be configured to perform embodiments,variations, and examples of the method 100 described above, in a mannerthat adheres to privacy-related health regulations.

The method 100 and/or system 200 of the embodiments can be embodiedand/or implemented at least in part as a machine configured to receive acomputer-readable medium storing computer-readable instructions. Theinstructions can be executed by computer-executable componentsintegrated with the application, applet, host, server, network, website,communication service, communication interface,hardware/firmware/software elements of a patient computer or mobiledevice, or any suitable combination thereof. Other systems and methodsof the embodiments can be embodied and/or implemented at least in partas a machine configured to receive a computer-readable medium storingcomputer-readable instructions. The instructions can be executed bycomputer-executable components integrated by computer-executablecomponents integrated with apparatuses and networks of the typedescribed above. The computer-readable medium can be stored on anysuitable computer readable media such as RAMs, ROMs, flash memory,EEPROMs, optical devices (CD or DVD), hard drives, floppy drives, or anysuitable device. The computer-executable component can be a processor,though any suitable dedicated hardware device can (alternatively oradditionally) execute the instructions.

As a person skilled in the art will recognize from the previous detaileddescription and from the figures and claims, modifications and changescan be made to the embodiments of the invention without departing fromthe scope of this invention as defined in the following claims.

We claim:
 1. A method for improving depression state determination foran individual, the method comprising: transmitting, from a communicationmodule executing on a mobile communication device to a computing system,a log of use dataset associated with communication behavior of theindividual during a time period; at the computing system, receiving amotion supplementary dataset corresponding to a motion sensor of themobile computing device, the motion supplementary dataset characterizingphysical orientation of the mobile computing device and associated withphysical activity behavior of the individual during the time period;collecting GPS data corresponding to a GPS sensor of the mobilecomputing device, the GPS data describing physical location of themobile computing device and associated with location behavior of theindividual during the time period; at the computing system, receiving asurvey dataset including responses, to at least one of a set ofdepression-assessment surveys, associated with a set of time points ofthe time period; selecting a patient subgroup for the individual from afirst subgroup and a second subgroup based on the GPS data and themotion supplementary dataset, wherein the first subgroup is selected inresponse to the physical location and the physical orientation of themobile computing device indicating a first mobility behavior shared bythe first subgroup, wherein the second subgroup is selected in responseto the physical location and the physical orientation of the mobilecomputing device indicating a second mobility behavior shared by thesecond subgroup, and wherein selection of the patient subgroup isoperable to improve data storage, data retrieval, and the depressionstate determination; at the computing system, generating a predictivemodel based on the selected patient subgroup, the survey dataset, and apassive dataset derived from the log of use dataset, the GPS data, andthe motion supplementary dataset; transforming at least one of thepassive dataset, the survey dataset, and the an output of the predictivemodel into an analysis of a depression-risk state of the individualassociated with at least a portion of the time period; and upondetection that parameters of the depression-risk state satisfy athreshold condition, automatically initiating provision of a therapeuticintervention for improving a health outcome of the individual, by way ofat least one of the computing system and the mobile communicationdevice.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the log of usedataset further includes: at the computing system, extracting, from thelog of use dataset: a length of text messages received by the individualfrom a close associate of the individual, a phone call duration, anincoming call count, and a number of ignored calls.
 3. The method ofclaim 2, wherein receiving the supplementary dataset includes extractinga mobility radius associated with at least one time point of the timeperiod and derived from the GPS sensor of the mobile communicationdevice.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein generating the analysisincludes generating a first comparison between a) a first thresholdcondition, associated with isolation behavior of the individual across aportion of the time period, and b) at least one passive data element ofthe log of use dataset and the supplementary dataset.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the depression-risk state includes a mobilityparameter, and wherein generating the comparison includes comparing themobility parameter to a mobility radius threshold with an associatedduration threshold.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein thedepression-risk state includes a communication parameter, and whereingenerating the comparison includes comparing the communication parameterto a communication length threshold for a primary contact theindividual.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the surveydataset comprises providing, within an application executing at themobile communication device, a survey derived from at least one of: aPatient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) assessment, a Hamilton RatingScale for Depression (HAM-D) assessment, and a Generalized AnxietyDisorder-7 (GAD-7) assessment.
 8. The method of claim 7, whereinproviding the survey includes automatically providing a first portion ofthe survey within the application at a first subset of time points ofthe time period, and providing a second portion of the survey within theapplication at a second subset of time points of the time period.
 9. Themethod of claim 8, wherein the threshold condition includes a thresholdsurvey score associated with a critical depression state, and whereingenerating the analysis includes generating a second comparison betweena) the threshold survey score and b) a survey score of the individualassociated with at least one time point of the time period.
 10. Themethod of claim 1, wherein automatically initiating provision of thetherapeutic intervention includes at least one of: enabling a healthcareentity to contact the individual and providing health advice related todepression to the individual within an application executing at themobile computing device.
 11. A method for improving depression statedetermination for an individual, the method comprising: at a computingsystem in communication with a mobile communication device of theindividual, receiving a log of use dataset associated with communicationbehavior of the individual during a time period; at the computingsystem, receiving a mobility sensor supplementary dataset correspondingto a mobility sensor of the mobile communication device, the mobilitysupplementary dataset characterizing activity of the individual duringthe time period; at the computing system, receiving a survey datasetincluding responses, to at least one of a set of depression-assessmentsurveys, associated with a set of time points of the time period;selecting a patient subgroup for the individual from a first subgroupand a second subgroup based on the mobility sensor supplementarydataset, wherein the first subgroup is selected in response to themobility sensor supplementary dataset indicating a first mobilitybehavior associated with the first subgroup, wherein the second subgroupis selected in response to the mobility sensor supplementary datasetindicating a second mobility behavior associated with the secondsubgroup, and wherein selection of the patient subgroup is operable toimprove data storage, data retrieval, and the depression statedetermination; at the computing system, generating a predictive model ofa depression-risk state of the individual associated with at least aportion of the time period, based on the selected patient subgroup andat least one of the log of use dataset, the mobility sensorsupplementary dataset, and the survey dataset; and by way of at leastone of the computing system and the mobile communication device,automatically initiating provision of a therapeutic intervention forimproving a health outcome of the individual, upon detection that a setof parameters outputted from the predictive model of the depression-riskstate satisfy a threshold condition.
 12. The method of claim 11, whereinreceiving the log of use dataset further includes: at the computingsystem, extracting, from the log of use dataset: a length of textmessages received by the individual from a close associate of theindividual, a phone call duration, an incoming call count, and a numberof ignored calls.
 13. The method of claim 11, wherein receiving thesupplementary dataset includes extracting a mobility radius associatedwith at least one time point of the time period and derived from globalpositioning sensors of the mobile communication device.
 14. The methodof Claim 11, wherein generating the predictive model includes: at thecomputing system, implementing a factor analysis approach that modelsdiversity in interaction behavior of the individual across the timeperiod.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein generating the predictivemodel includes processing the log of use dataset, the supplementarydataset, and the survey dataset with a correlation-based featureselection (CFS) algorithm to extract features of the depression-riskstate across the time period.
 16. The method of claim 11, wherein theset of parameters of the depression-risk state includes parametersderived from at least one of a mobility radius parameter from thesupplementary dataset and a communication count parameter from the logof use dataset.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein automaticallyinitiating provision of the therapeutic intervention comprises renderingan alert at a user interface of a dashboard of a healthcare entityassociated with the individual, and wherein rendering the alert furtherincludes providing the healthcare entity with anelectronically-implemented tool for contacting the individual.
 18. Themethod of claim 11, wherein generating the predictive model of thedepression-risk state of the individual includes generating ananticipated depression-related state of the user at a future time pointoutside of the time period, and wherein the method further includesautomatically initiating provision of a therapeutic intervention for theindividual to prevent the anticipated depression-related state of theuser.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the anticipateddepression-related state is a suicidal state, and wherein automaticallyinitiating provision of the therapeutic intervention includes enabling ahealthcare entity to contact the individual proximal in time to thefuture time point.
 20. The method of claim 11, further comprising, withthe predictive model, identifying a first set of features that enabledetermination of depression severity for a first categorization ofindividuals, and a second set of features that enable determination ofdepression severity for a second categorization of individuals.
 21. Themethod of claim 11, further comprising transforming at least one of thepassive dataset, the survey dataset, and the an output of the predictivemodel into an analysis of an anxiety state of the individual associatedwith at least a portion of the time period; and upon detection thatparameters of the anxiety state satisfy a threshold condition,automatically initiating provision of a therapeutic intervention for theindividual by way of at least one of the computing system and the mobilecommunication device.